Buckle up, as today is the last day of Legends of Western Cinema Week, hosted by Hamlette, Heidi, and Olivia! These gals have hosted this a score of times over the last few years and it's exciting to see their continued knowledge of the genre!
I'm dropping in to fill out the tag because it's been a couple years since I last did, and I figured that I'd probably seen more western movies to increase my participation. Turns out I have seen...1 more western. I am clearly not doing this genre justice. This is not entirely for a lack of trying because for our last family movie night, I came up with eight (8) options, all of which were westerns, and my dad didn't like any of them and instead came up with his own choice. According to my calculations, I've seen about 39, so that should be sufficient to answer these 10 questions!
Cliff -- a tense cliffhanger:
It's been YEARS since I watched it, but I remember everything falling apart and then ending in Dances with Wolves (1990). Good times. Definitely didn't scar me. *eye twitch*
Gulch -- a cool ambush scene:
The Magnificent Seven (1960) is all about staging an ambush to protect a small town from the local outlaw oppressors.
Canyon -- a big gunfight:
I remember being impressed with the gunfight scene in The Man From Laramie (1955), but I remember nothing else about it. Besides that it was maybe a one-on-one, so one couldn't call it a BIG gunfight.
The biggest gunfight I can think of is in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1972). They also talk about the skill because "I'm better when I move."
Mountains -- high stakes:
Back to the Future Part III (1990). It's high stakes because due to time travel one possible future is known and the characters are trying to prevent that. So all Marty has to do is stay out of trouble...but that's not really his strong suit as he hates to back down from a fight. What with knowing his character tendencies from the last two movies as well as possible futures, the stakes are as high as you can get.
Valley -- a beautiful romance:
While it's probably a basic answer, I'll say The Man From Snowy River (1982). I love Jim Craig so of course Jessica, the daughter of Jim's boss, also fancies him.
Desert -- a suspenseful plot:
The original True Grit (1969) claims this spot. Rooster Cogburn, Ranger La Boeuf, and Mattie Ross are trying to catch the man who killed Mattie's father. They're hot on the trail yet there's suspense of whether they'll catch him or if this is a wasted journey. And not to mention that final scene which throws all the more complications into the suspense.
Forest -- themes about renewal:
The Big Trees (1952)? This is maybe not quite a western and I didn't really like it, but hey, it's what I've got. The film features a lumber company that is cutting down the trees that California is famous for and it is about the conflict of the people who live there and love the trees. If I recall correctly, there's some rhetoric about using the lumber for new things vs. how the new things will have no purpose if the land is destroyed. I'm not a Kirk Douglas fan though I did find it hilarious that someone named Douglas---like Douglas firs---was in a movie about trees. And it goes with the prompt "Forest."
River -- traveling to a new home:
This is kind of lacking on the traveling part, but Ransom Stoddard is trying to set up a new life and a law practice in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and we see him arrive to town because that's right when everything starts going wrong. Those bothersome stage robbers...
Plains -- characters who are farmers:
In Home on the Range (2004), the cows are trying to save the Pearl's dairy farm "Patch of Heaven." This was one of my favorite movies when I was little. We had this little mobile player that you could put DVDs in and my sisters would get tired of watching Home on the Range so I'd just watch it by myself on that tiny screen.
Mesa -- an animal central to the story:
While the last answer also fit this category, I'm going to put my most recently watched Western here: The Rare Breed (1966). It features a lot of ranching, most prominently the sale of the adorable Vindicator. While ranchers are plotting and making deals they start to wonder which is feistier: Vindicator, or the mother-daughter duo who owns him.
Those are my answers! Make sure to check out the master posts HERE, HERE, and HERE for the links to all the other tag answers, giveaways, games, and more!
Thanks to Hamlette, Heidi, and Olivia for hosting this again! I love the challenge to try to watch more westerns and I hope to have a few more under my belt by the next time this roles around.
Thanks to all of you for reading! Have you seen any of these movies? What are some western suggestions for me? Does anyone here love the suspense of True Grit? Is anyone surprised that I mentioned not one or two but THREE Jimmy Stewart movies? Is there anything that you're better at if you move?
I'm here today to fill out the Sunshine Blogger Award! The story behind this tag is quite wild, but to summarize, I'm very late. Because the last time I filled out this award was 2020. Since, then, I've been nominated for it A LOT, which I'm very honored about!
I will get to answering all of the questions one day, but today's edition is special because it features the three times that Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliloquy tagged me for the award. A huge thanks to Hamlette! Her movie-themed questions are perfect for this blog.
Rules:
List the award’s official rules
Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog
Thank the person who nominated you
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog
Answer your nominator’s questions
Nominate up to 11 bloggers
Ask your nominees 11 questions
Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts
1. What was your favorite movie when you were 10 years old?
Even though I'd only seen the ending at that point, I think it was The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). There's another one that immediately comes to mind, but I first was obsessed with it while I was 9, and it also dates me because it came out that year...
2. What's your favorite movie now?
While It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is my favorite movie of all time, to focus on the "now" part of the question, let's talk about a movie that I'm currently enamored of, to mix it up.
It is in fact another Jimmy Stewart movie: Rope (1948). I should really do a whole post on this movie, but just know that I could talk about it all day. And I kind of did that, because for two weeks after I watched it when people would ask me "How are you?" I would launch into telling them about this movie. I'm in the process of convincing my parents to watch it.
3. What would be your dream cast for an adaptation of your favorite book?
The problem is that a lot of my favorite books either already have amazing adaptations (Pride and Prejudice), or the characters are young so I'd want a new face and therefore can't cast them from people who are already in the industry.
One of my favorite books is Anna Karenina and I haven't seen the 2012 movie yet, but I was imagining their casting of Domnhall Gleeson as Levin the entire time I was reading it. But not with such a horrible beard. Get rid of that and you can see his despair and troubled soul through his entire face.
2012 version
My preference...
As for the rest of the cast, I'm pretty down with the 2012 choices from what I've seen! But that's still yet to be determined once I actually watch it.
4. What's your favorite movie soundtrack?
All time favorite: How to Train Your Dragon, composed by John Powell.
Current favorite/what I listen to the most: Knives Out, composed by Nathan Johnson.
5. Do you have a favorite movie-watching snack?
I am not a popcorn person. I think I would have to say a slushie of some kind? A favorite thing that my sisters and I would do in the summer is we'd have been out playing tennis or hiking or some kind of outdoorsy thing, then in the hot part of the day we would come inside, make ourselves "slushies" (crushed ice and juice) and watch a movie.
6. Who is your favorite person to watch movies with?
My younger sister, Fi. She has the biggest reactions to things which amuses me greatly. That's the whole point of watching a movie with another person, isn't it? To see what they think of it! She also doesn't remember movies if it's been more than five years since she watched it, so she'll gasp at all the plot twists of movies she's already seen.
Besides, she would help me make the aforementioned slushie.
7. Is there a hairstyle in a movie that you've always wished you could pull off?
I can't tell you guys how many times I've tried to do Leia's crown braid from The Empire Strikes Back (1980). On me it always just looks wrong and out of whack, whereas Leia looks so regal and commanding and powerful. I usually default to doing Rey's classic hair in that case. Just recently I chopped my hair short again so it may be a few months before I can attempt it again.
I think the problem is I'm always too close to my forehead...
8. What movie animal would you like as a pet?
I was watching something recently where I saw a pet and thought "If I'm ever asked to choose a movie pet, it's going to be you!" The only problem is that I don't remember what that was.
I'm going to go with the soot sprites from Spirited Away (2001). They would probably just copy whatever I was doing for work in such an exaggerated manner that I wouldn't be able to continue due to laughing.
9. What movie house would you like to stay in on vacation?
The house from Penelope. It's got a swing inside. And a cool one-way window to play chess with!
But I also just saw North by Northwest and was very impressed with that house. The trouble is I'm not interested in visiting Mount Rushmore. But that HOUSE. I don't know why I loved it so much. If only it was in a different location...
10. What's the oldest movie you've watched?
...like, ever? I'm not sure! I only started keeping track of all the movies I watch in 2017, and it feels like I watched more silent movies before then. The oldest movies I've reviewed on this blog are The General (1927) and 7th Heaven (1927), so maybe one of them?
One of the reasons why I haven't been blogging recently is because I got a Letterboxd account and have been having a ton of fun filling out all of the movies I've watched. And it agrees that 1927 seems to be my oldest year.
11. What's the newest movie you've watched?
When I first started answering these questions the answer was a film from 2021. So even though I'm so late now, I really was trying to get these questions answered between homework! I decided that because I never posted it I should just start afresh.
I think the newest movie I've seen is Mufasa: The Lion King (2024). I saw it in theaters with some of my best friends. I do not like CGI-centric movies but they really wanted to go. It was fun enough! All spring I've been singing the song "We Go Together" to myself.
My family has started declaring Sunday Night = Movie Night. On this most recent Movie Night, we watched Glass Onion (2022). It didn't quite have the same punch as Knives Out (2019), but the mystery still got me good. So well done, Mr. Rian Johnson.
2. What's the next movie you plan to watch?
To go with our Sunday Night Movie Night, I started writing down our ideas that we have throughout the week so we don't spend so long trying to figure out what to watch. We just peruse the list. The next one on the list that I would really like to watch is It Happened One Night (1934).
3. What new movie release are you looking forward to?
I'm not really looking forward to too many films, as shown on my Coming Soon page, but I am a sucker for Frankenstein. And the trailer for Guillermo del Toro's upcoming version looks solid. And now I'm curious about the next Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Men, because the cast is, again, BRILLIANT.
4. What TV show(s) have you seen every episode of at least once?
I am not a fan of TV shows where the episodes aren't connected and you can just watch whichever one you want. It leads to me not being as connected to the characters where I want to watch TV shows because it has the opportunity of being a longer overall story than a movie, not for it being shorter bits than a movie. So when I start a TV show I plan to watch every episode, so saying I've seen all of the episodes is not a bragging right for me.
I've never been a fan of vampires, but El conde (2023) absolutely ended me ever wanting to see vampires again.
6. Do you own a camera?
I do, and it's a lovely purple. I just don't know where in this house it is, or if my sister has it...
7. What's the last thing you did outside?
This question is making me realize I haven't actually spent time outside recently. Most of my work I do is outside so I associate being inside with resting. As far as doing things outside for fun, I went for a bike ride the other day which was short and sweet. I also weeded my greenhouse!
They weren't successful in convincing me otherwise.
8. How far do you live from where you were born?
From where I was born, it's about 90 minutes. Because that's where the big hospital is. I've just recently moved home again, though!
9. Have you ever ridden a horse?
I have, most recently in 2019. I really enjoy it and I think that horses are beautiful animals. Not sure that I could ever ride like Jim Craig, but I can admire from afar.
10. What ice cream flavor do you heartily dislike?
I kind of dislike ice cream as a general rule. I actually dislike anything sweet really as a common rule (except brownies...).
11. What was the last thing you ate as a snack?
A piece of cheese, I think? Now that you mention it, I'm kind of hungry again so I should go find a cracker.
1. What's the first movie you have a memory of watching?
This is different than the movies that I bet were my first movies because they've always been part of my life and I don't remember a time of not knowing what was happening. Those would be The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Princess Bride (1987), among others. However, the first movie I remember watching for the first time (I'm probably confusing this question) is Sense and Sensibility (1995).
This shot in particular lives in my head.
2. Have you ever written a fan letter to a celebrity? (If so, did you get a reply?)
I used to participate in the Letters About Literature contest which was writing to your favorite author and telling them why and how their books impacted you as a reader. Of course, you didn't send it to the author themselves but the people organizing the contest. I'm surprised at how I don't actually remember all of the people I "wrote" to. I know Jeanie Birdsall was the first, because I loved her book The Penderwicks.
3. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen?
My type of humor is not what are typically put in the "comedy" genre. For example, I laugh at Nimona (2022) to the point of crying, but I'm also crying for other reasons, so it's not really a comedy.
Let's go with:
- Support Your Local Sheriff (1969): it's more clever than funny, but "have you been touching up your hair again, Pa?" "What do you mean again??" will always make me chuckles.
- Sense and Sensibility (1995): again, it's just so stinking clever. So much so that I gasp at all the little moments and spill my tea on myself.
- Bringing Up Baby (1938) always cracks me up with Susan yelling "DaViD!" at every conceivable moment.
4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of?
6. Who were your favorite actor and actress when you were a teen?
I have a rule that a person can only be my favorite if I've seen them in at least five roles. When I was a teen that fell to:
Jimmy Stewart (believe me, well over five roles) and Emma Thompson.
Mwahaha, Rope being meta.
7. Who are your favorite actor and actress now?
Still Jimmy Stewart, of course. Annnnnnd, I think it's still Emma Thompson? I mean, she can pull off both the sparkling wit of Beatrice and the dramatic desperation of professor Trelawney.
8. Does anyone else in your family love movies?
Yes, we are all big movie lovers! However, we all like VERY different genres and appreciate different parts of movies, so it's hard to find one that we all like. Which has made Sunday Nights a fun challenge! My little sister is looking for films that are real, which I have encouraged to be called something else. We finally came up with the qualification of her preferring character-driven stories over plot-driven. If you have any recommendations, please let us know!
9. If you could pick an actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose?
I mean, I aspire to be like Luna Lovegood, so having Evanna Lynch play me seems appropriate. But maybe it's too on the nose.
10. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once?
11. Are there any movies coming out in 2024 that you are looking forward to?
Seeing how we are now in 2025 due to my tardiness, I'm going to answer this question as a movie that was made in 2024 and I still haven't seen yet but I'm looking forward to it: Pedro Páramo (2024). I read a Juan Rulfo story for a Hispanic Literature class and am therefore interested in more of his work, and this film based off another story of his should do the trick!
My questions (feat. me also pilfering some of my favorite from the above lists):
1. What was your favorite movie when you were 10 years old?
2. What's the next movie you plan to watch?
3. What would be your dream cast for an adaptation of your favorite book?
4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of?
5. What movie do you wish had a sequel, but it doesn't?
6. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen?
7. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once?
8. What are your thoughts on the last book you read?
9. What's the oldest movie you've seen?
10. What's the newest movie you've seen?
11. What movie could you watch again and again without getting tired of it?
Instead of nominating 33 people, I'm going to nominate 3 because I was tagged 3 times (and 33 divided by 11 is 3. And I just like doing math when I can):
That's it for this round of questions, but expect more to be coming, especially because Sally of 18 Cinema Lane just nominated me again! Thanks, Sally!
Thanks to Hamlette for all of these various nominations! Thanks to all of you for reading!
What do you guys think? Has an actor ever been right for a role but you would've changed make-up or hair? Any tips on successfully completing the Princess Leia look? Anyone else want a Tin-Tin sequel?
Today is the last day of Hamlette's We Love Musicals Week so I'm popping in to fill out the tag she has created for the festivities. It's my tradition for the last 3 years to do computer programming while listening to musicals on Valentine's Day so even though I don't have any computer programming homework this semester, musicals never go out of style.
1. What are your favorite musicals? (Tell us a top 3 to 5, that sort of thing.)
Hadestown:
I have a poster from this musical in my room and it is the first and last thing I see every day. This musical tells such a visceral grip on my heart, I don't have words for it. I loved it before seeing it, and then seeing it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Favorite songs: "Road to Hell" // "Any Way the Wind Blows" // "Livin' it Up on Top" // "Wait for me" + reprise //
"And even though this feels so right, // I'm holding back the tears tonight // It's true I'll never be over you // 'cuz I have built a future in my mind with you..."
This also wins the award for favorite movie musical because nothing that has happened on screen makes me happier than Topol's dances as Tevye. Tevye's avoidant behavior of "I'm just going to tell Goldie that I had a dream..." is ICONIC. Just today I purchased a copy of the original stories by Sholem Aleichem that inspired this story!
Favorite songs: "If I Were A Rich Man" // "Tradition" :
The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
both animated and Broadway versions.
And yes, as my sister informs me, they are nothing like the book but I DON'T CARE because the book inspired this story that never fails to give me shivers in my soul.
Favorite songs: "God Help the Outcasts" will always be one of my favorite songs of all time (especially from an animated movie. There's no question), but also "Heaven's Light"?? GORGEOUS. I will also quote "Rest and Recreation" on a regular basis...
Into the Woods (2014):
This feeds the continual craving I have within me for fairytales. Sondheim is a musical legend and that is fully shown through the lines "Be careful of what you wish // for wishes come true not free"...
Musicals provide a vulnerable and intimate look into the heart of the characters. In no other genre is it as easy find the soaring joys and plunging depths of a character's emotions because in musicals they sing it out to you. They take the highs and lows of human pain, heartache, and love and translate it into a way that anyone feeling those songs can sing to release them from the burden of not having the right words.
Then there is time to just have fun with playing with music and singing. Like when there are different stories being sung and then they all come together? AH. I want to make a whole post about this, but for example. "96,000" from In the Heights is one of my go-to for story examples for giving characters different motivations.
Then there are times the characters are such darling idiots. Like, I'm playing "Kiss Me (pt. 1)" from Sweeney Todd over and over again because it makes me giggle because Johanna and Anthony are on SUCH different wavelengths they aren't listening to each other and it's like you TWO hold up for ONE SECOND---
3. What's the first musical you can remember seeing?
The Wizard of Oz (1939) which is consequently also the first movie I ever remember watching, so my movie-watching experience is very tied to singing and dancing. In fact, when I was very little I got bored of any movie that DIDN'T have singing and dancing...
I think the first live musical I saw was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 2013? I still haven't seen the movie version because the version I saw was so much fun.
4. Have you ever seen a live musical onstage?
Yes! I am very lucky to have lived in places with amazing community theater productions and to also have gotten to travel and see amazing shows. I saw 11 live musicals last year alone which was a record that I don't think I'll ever be able to top and I'm very grateful for!
Yes, my very first time doing any theater was in a version of Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella. While I do not like that musical, it definitely grew on me and I had a ton of fun. Then I was also in Little Women the Musical! I only had one song that I had to sing and I never, ever, hit the right note. But I was kind of a goofy character in the ensemble so maybe it was in character.
6. Do you periodically dance about and burst into song in real life?
I do but in different ways than musicals, because usually I'm reenacting musicals. Lately, out of the blue I'll just start singing, "ALL I HEAR IS SCREAMS!" which is from the concept album of EPIC the Musical, which is a musical version of The Odyssey in 9 "Sagas." I haven't listened to the last one yet, which came out in December, because I'm not ready. That's okay, I'll just keep listening to The Underworld Saga (which, Hadestown fans, you should totally check out this whole musical, but this section will be a favorite, I bet).
7. What's the newest movie musical you've seen?
Looking through my journals and records of various kinds I think it is 2023's Wonka? This chocolatey masterpiece is sweet and fun in so many ways. "A World of Your Own" and "For a Moment" are some of my favorite songs because they are so joyful and celebrating life.
8. What's the oldest movie musical you've seen?
The oldest titles I could come up with that I for sure have seen all of is either Follow the Fleet (1936) or Shall We Dance (1937), but just because I watched them doesn't mean I remember them. In fact, I don't. I have absolutely no clue. I remember disliking Follow the Fleet, so I guess I'm glad I don't remember it?
I also have no real memory of Swing Time (1936) and I don't think I ever saw the beginning, but I remember one scene better than the other two combined, sooooo...
9. What's the last musical you watched?
La La Land (2016). I really want to write a blog post about this film but I don't know what to say that hasn't been said before. It is magnificent. According to Spotify, "City of Stars" is my most listened to song at the moment. I'd heard about it ever since it came out, but no one told me how tender, vulnerable, and real that song is. And "The Fools Who Dream" is one of the most heartfelt songs to have touched this earth.
"I'll be the one to make that call." "But you will call?"
10. What musical do you hope to watch for the first time soon?
I mean watch is the key word there because there are a couple of musicals that I listen to a lot but have never actually seen. Like Hamilton. Forever the top two that I wanted to see were Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but I saw both of those last year! But I haven't seen the movie versions themselves.
A friend and I are trying to get together to watch Pillow Talk (1959), so that will probably be the next one! Though looking it up, there don't seem to be that many songs so maybe it's not a musical. Others on my list include: The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Fame (2009), and Guys and Dolls (1955).
That does it! It's taken me so long to wrap up this post because there are so many more musicals I want to talk about like my intense love for Hamilton and The Music Man and and and I'll let you all go, though. If YOU are looking for more musical fun, then check out all of the other posts in We Love Musicals Week, HERE!
Thanks, Hamlette for hosting!
And thanks to all of you for reading! Do any of you have musical songs stuck in your head now? I will as soon as I turn off my playlist, but I don't want to stop listening... How many of these musicals have you seen? Do you listen to musicals before you watch them or do you watch them before just putting the soundtrack on repeat? What makes a musical special to you?
